The Mughal authority was set at naught and chaos and confusion reigned supreme in the territories around Dhamoni due to the raids by Chhatrasal. Khaliq, the Faujdar of Dhamoni sent urgent messengers to the Emperor. The Emperor sent Ruhullah Khan (23rd March, 1673) to take charge of Dhamoni with express orders to suppress Chhatrasal and his brothers. The chiefs of various neighbouring states including Datia, Orchha, Chanderi etc. were ordered to render every assistance to the new Faujdar against Chhatrasal.

Ruhullah Khan advanced with a large army towards Garhakota(28 miles east of Sagar) to attack Chhatrasal. The battle which began in the afternoon continued till night. The Bundelas repelled the Mughal forces inflicting heavy losses and Ruhullah Khan was forced to beat a retreat.

The news of the failure of the Mughal expedition reached the Emperor. He fined Ruhullah Khan and ordered him to suppress the Bundelas with the help of a contingent of Turks that was sent. Ruhullah Khan again advanced with a strong army and encountered the Bundelas at Basia(10 miles west of Sagar). In the engagement that followed the Bundelas made a dash upon the Mughal artillery. At that time gunpowder was being distributed among the gunners, which was set alight by the Bundelas and the resulting explosions created panic in the Mughal army. Taking advantage, the Bundelas swooped upon the enemy forces and routed them completely.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Gujarat was ruled by the young Indian ruler Bhimdev Solanki II (ruled 1178–1241). The army was commanded by his mother Naikidevi. Muhammad's army had suffered greatly during the march across the desert, and Naikidevi inflicted a major defeat on him at the village of Kayadara (near to Mount Abu, about forty miles to the north-east of Anhilwara). The invading army suffered heavy casualties during the battle, and also in the retreat back across the desert to Multan.

An army led by Qutb al-din Aibak, Ghori's deputy invaded again in c.1195–97. Bhimdev defeated Aibak again and adorned himself as "Abhinav Siddharaj".

Sunday, August 11, 2013

The Battle of Rajasthan is a battle (or series of battles) where the Gurjar Hindu alliance defeated the Arab invaders in 738 CE The final battle took place somewhere on the borders of modern Sindh-Rajasthan. Following their defeat the remnants of the Arab army fled to the other bank of the River Indus.The main Indian kings who contributed to the victory over the Arabs were the north Indian Gurjar Emperor Nagabhata I of the Pratihara Dynasty and the south Indian Gurjar Emperor Vikramaditya II of the Chalukya dynasty in the 8th century.

The most powerful kingdoms of North India in the 8th century were the Gurjara Pratihara dynasty and the Pala dynasty.
In the early 8th Century the Kingdom of Sindh under Brahmin King Dahir of the Rai dynasty was convulsed by internal strife——taking advantage of the conditions the Arabs assaulted it and occupied it under Muhammad ibn Qasim, the nephew of Al-Hajjaj (governor of Iraq and Khurasan). Qasim and his successors attempted to expand from Sindh into Punjab and other regions but were badly defeated by Lalitaditya of Kashmir and Yasovarman of Kannauj.

Junayd ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Murri, the successor of Muhammad ibn Qasim, in Sindh led a large army into the region in early 730 CE. Dividing this force into two he plundered several cities in southern Rajasthan, western Malwa, and Gujarat. The southern army moving south into Gujarat was defeated at Navsari by Avanijanashraya Pulakesi who was sent by the South Indian Gurjar Emperor Vikramaditya II of the Chalukya Empire. The army that went east, reached Avanti whose ruler Gurjara Pratihara Nagabhata I utterly defeated the invaders and they fled to save their life.

The Battle of Rajasthan

Gauging at the seriousness of the situation as well as the power of the arab forces, pratihara king, Nagabhata made pact with Jaysimha Varman of the Rashtrakuta Empire. Jaysimha in turn sent his son Avanijanashraya Pulakesi to support Nagabhata. The two Dynasties of India supplemented the already fighting Hindu Gurjar Mewar Kingdom, under Bappa Rawal, at the border of Rajasthan.

The battle was fought between 5,000-6,000 Gurjar Infantry and cavalry facing more than 30,000 Arabs. The Gurjar fought bravely and managed to kill the Arab leader Emir Junaid during the war. This enhanced the morale of the Gurjar hindu forces while the Arabs disorganized and demoralized due to their leaders death retreated and were frequently attacked by local forces until they reached the indus river taking great casualties.

Junayd's successor Tamim ibn Zaid al-Utbi organized a fresh campaigns against Rajasthan but failed to hold any territories there. He would be further pushed across River Indus by the combined forces of the King of Kannauj, Nagabhata thus limiting the Arabs to the territory of Sindh across River Indus.
The Arabs crossed over to the other side of the River Indus, abandoning all their lands to the victorious Indian kings. The local chieftains took advantage of these conditions to re-establish their independence. Subsequently the Arabs constructed the city of Mansurah on the other side of the wide and deep Indus, which was safe from attack. This became their new capital in Sindh.

Chittor was besieged in 1303 AD by the army of Alauddin Khilji, sultan of Delhi, who is said to have coveted Padmini, Rani of Chittor, a legendary beauty of her day. The famous Jauhar followed, wherein Rani Padmini, led the ladies of the fort into death by self-immolation. The next morning, the menfolk of Chittor rode out to face certain death on the field of honour.
After Chittor was lost, an extremely distant kinsman of Rawal Ratan Singh (Rana of Mewar), by name 'Laksha' or Lakshman Singh, proclaimed himself Rana-in-exile. Laksha was descended in direct patrilineage from Bappa Rawal (founder of Mewar Dynasty), and hence belonged to the Gehlot clan. But he was an eighth cousin twice removed of Rawal Ratan Singh. Laksha hailed from the village of Sisoda near the town of Nathdwara. Laksha was the father of nine sons, of whom the eldest was Ari. Hammir was the only child of Ari.

Both Laksha and Ari died in various skirmishes when Hammir was yet an infant; resultantly, Hammir grew up under the tutelage of his uncle Ajay, the second son of Laksha.

The Khiljis had assigned their newly conquered territories to the administration of Maldeo, ruler of the nearby state of Jalore, who had allied with them during the recent war. In a bid to reconcile and co-opt the natives of the land to his rule, Maldeo arranged for the marriage of his widowed daughter Songari with Hammir. Rana Hammir Singh re-established the state of Mewar in 1326 by engineering a coup d'état against his father-in-law. The dynasty thus founded by Hammir, who was descended in direct patrilineage from Bappa Rawal, came to be known as Sisodia after Sisoda, the mountain village whence Hammir hailed.

Bappa Rawal (AD. 713-810), was the founder of the Mewar Dynasty (r. 734-753).

Bappa Rawal was one of the most powerful and famous rulers of the Mewar Dynasty. He is a surviving member of the Guhilot clan. But he established the Mewar Dynasty, naming it for the kingdom he had just taken. He went on to become a celebrated hero on battlefields near and far. It is said that Bappa was blessed by Harit Rishi, a sage of the Mewar region, with kingship.

Bappa Rawal is said to have spent his childhood near a place called Nagda.

Bappa Rawal played an important role in the Battle of Rajasthan, a series of wars fought in the 8th century AD between the regional rulers of North-Western India and the Arabs of Sindh, in which the regional Indian rulers inflicted a resounding defeat on the invading Arabs.

In the 8th century Arab Muslims started attacking India within a few decades of the birth of Islam, which was basically an extension of invasion of Persia. In order to ward off Muslim invasions across the western and northern borders of Rajputana, Bappa united the smaller states of Ajmer and Jaisalmer to stop the attacks. Bappa Rawal fought and defeated the Arabs in the country and turned the tide for a while. Bin Qasim was able to defeat Dahir in Sindh but was stopped by Bappa Rawal.

Bappa defeated and pursued Bin Qasim through Saurashtra and back to the western banks of the Sindhu (i.e. current day Baluchistan). He then marched on to Ghazni and defeated the local ruler Salim and after nominating a representative returned to Chittor. Subsequently, Bappa Rawal and his armies invaded various kingdoms including Kandahar, Khorasan, Turan, Ispahan, Iran and made them vassals of his kingdom. Thus he not only defended India's frontiers but for a brief period was able to expand them.

Bappa Rawal was also known to be a just ruler. After having ruled his kingdom for almost 20 years he abdicated the throne in favour of his son, he became a devout Siva 'upasak' (worshipper of Shiva) and became a 'Yati' (an ascetic).